· Bush has left the door open (for once!) to discussion of a new mortgage crisis relief plan currently in the works in the Senate; if passed, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would backstop the mortgage insurance fund with monies culled from a new affordable housing fund. The administration is demanding stricter oversight for Fannie and Freddie, gouging risky borrowers for higher mortgage insurance rates. While the Senate is struggling to appease the While House, it's proposed FHA insurance fund isn't going over so well with G.W.B. [Reuters]
· WaMu has cut $6 billion in available home equity credit in order to save its own ass in a flailing market. Watch out for the junk mail this week, as all affected parties should expect to receive a letter notifying them of their imminent financial demise. [EB Business Times]
· A happy note: R: In April, home construction rose at the highest rate in 2 years. Go figure. [Charleston Gazette]
Gavin Newsom and Company are damn well serious about this new San Francisco General Hospital business. In partnership with the Department of Public Health, Gavin has introduced a measure for the November ballot that, if passed, will secure the project with a $887.4 million general obligation bond. Fong & Chan Architects designed the cyclone of a building that already has some Curbed SF-reading physicians up in arms— our last post on the subject launched a comment war over the design, which leaves physicians' sleeping quarters back in the old building, thus forcing doctors to ... walk to the new building. And here we haven't even begun to debate the helipad.
· SF General Helipad Hospital Re-Design Revealed [Curbed SF]
Left to wander through a post 9/11 afterlife, San Francisco Airport's long-lost "Ghost Terminal" will soon be brought back to life in an unholy ceremony involving seismic retrofits and Latin incantations. Spurred back by increased air travel and competition among the new "hip" airlines, Jetblue and SFO newcomer Virgin America, the new terminal will serve as a domestic hub with a hott redesign described as "distinctly San Francisco." This of course means it will be a "green design" (come on now— how green can an airport really be?) with expensive coffee, expensive food, and expensive retail shopping. The cost to update the original 1954 building? $383 million. Seismic retrofits will start in a few weeks, with exterior renovations soon to follow. SFO is planning for Terminal 2 to be fulling operational by the end of 2010 but has yet to release plans detailing how ghosts, specters, and poltergeists will travel once the new terminal is complete.
· SFO brings ghost terminal back from the dead [Inside Bay Area]
Although the race was really over a few weeks ago, today is the day that 555 Mission Street will take home the medal for 30-plus story glass sprint. In the background, The Millennium stands dejectedly on the lower podium while 555's anthem, the Mission Impossible theme, plays throughout the city. When asked what he'll do now, 555 responded, "Now It's time for the race to occupancy!"
More evidence that SoMa is the new FiDi: The downtown leasing market is tanking, with landlords just starting to realize that they may need to lower rents to fill spaces. With financial companies delaying expansion plans due to the current economic climate, tenants are beginning to realize that they can, in fact, put the screws on their landlords. As the FiDi freezes, SoMa is heating up: FiDi usually accounts for about three quarters' worth of real estate activity during any give quarter; that number took a nose dive at the end of 2008. With new and old tech companies on the rise, economists, investors, bankers, bloggers, and web 2.0-ers are looking to SoMa to help spare San Francisco the brunt of the current forthcoming recession. Nerds, we're in your hands now.
· More downtown offices vacant, but not in SoMa [SF Business Times]
Rumblings & Bumblings: the Curbed SF construction watch for readers, by readers. You ask, we pass. Got an answer to one of these queries? To the comments or the tipline! Wondering about some urban carnage? Let us know. (As always, bonus points for digital photos.)
From a very unhappy traveler:
I live in Webster Tower at the corner of Webster and Geary and having just arrived home yesterday from three weeks in Europe, was shocked to discover major construction in my front yard ... I used to only have to bitch about the noise from the homeless thugs beating each other over a .05-cent bottle at 3:00 a.m., now there is major construction noise starting at the break of dawn.
Let's stave off a breakdown and help out Sleepless in San Francisco, shall we? Anyone?
The Millennium Tower is taking shape in SoMa, as glass consumes concrete day by day. Perhaps most notably, the crown of the tower is now framed up, giving a better idea of how this beast will alter the skyline. Not exactly a grand gesture, eh?
· First Glimpse: Millennium Top Off Party [Curbed SF]
· Mystery Money Down on Millennium Penthouse [Curbed SF]
The city revealed extensive plans yesterday for a new $887.4 million renovation to San Francisco General Hospital. The current building isn't going anywhere, but will instead be retrofitted to meet seismic standards. More notably though, the plans include a new 9-story, oval shaped building, developed to a great level of detail in hopes of avoiding the General Hospital-like drama surrounding Laguna Honda Hospital; approved before the design was finished, that hot mess will be complete next year at more than twice its initial $299 million budget. In reference to this medical mishap, the mayor said "We have a lot of angry people that don't trust us. Now we're asking them for close to a billion dollars." Not exactly inspiring words. SF General is Gavin's second shot— designed by Fong & Chan Architects, will be LEED Silver certified and includes a large roof garden without helipad... for now. P-Hill pilots, start your engines.
· S.F. General Hospital renovation plan unveiled [SF Gate]
· Shut Your Smog Hole! "No Alternative" in Potrero Hill [Curbed SF]
· Shhhh! Mission Bay Opposes UCSF Helipad, Noise [Curbed SF]
Whatever happened to Apple's second Mothership? Absolutely nothing, that's what. Two years ago this month, Steve Jobs delivered a blow to the Cupertino City Council: Apple needed an additional site for its growing workforce of hypertension-riddled Mountain Dew guzzlers, and had been considering a bailing on the town altogether. Nine spendy parcels of land later, Apple elected to stand down and hold out. “It’ll take us, you know, three or four years to design it, get all the approvals and get it built,” said Big Daddy Jobs back then, a bit ambitiously it turns out. Two years later, Apple has yet to apply for any permits whatsoever. Delays, yes— we're hedging our bets on 2012 at the earliest. As for the building, please, please, please, we beg of you Steve, don't look to your own products for design inspiration— that kind of shit only flies in Dubai.
· Apple’s new campus still a long way off [Fortune]
Rumblings & Bumblings: the Curbed SF construction watch for readers, by readers. You ask, we pass. Got an answer to one of these queries? To the comments or the tipline! Wondering about some urban carnage? Let us know. (As always, bonus points for digital photos.)
Another day, another burning question arrives in the Curbed inbox:
Hark! Looks like we have progress on Guerrero, between Duboce and Market. This place has been sitting in a half-assed state for ages. Sometimes it looks like people are working there, but nothing ever seems to come of it. While walking by this morning, I saw crews smoothing over plaster on the side of the building for what looked to be the second time around— some fool had carved "STUD" in huge letters. Anyone know the inside story on the condos that inside of that place? Who's buying those anyway? The stench of Kentucky Fried Chicken and Taco Bell makes me gag every time I pass by, and the tweaked out dumpster divers aren't exactly a value add, either.
While there's still a little work to be done— see the stable units and restaurant/ retail space— The Hayes is open for business. For those suffering from statistical obsessive-compulsion disorder (Did we just diagnose a new illness?): Sales are at 55%; around 5 or so studios are left, and an even mix of 15-20 1 bedroom and 2 bedroom units are on the block, too. In case you haven't been following along as we've stalked The Hayes for months now (what's wrong with you, anyway?) prices range from $399,000 to $485,000 for studios, $619,000 to $749,000 for 1-bedrooms, and $789,000 to $930,000 for 2-bedroom homes. The extra-super-special Stable units are on the market for $1,059,000 for 2 bedrooms and 1,143,000 square feet of space.
Notes from the walk through: Well played on the art work; The Hayes contracted with Gallery 16 to bring in a stable of locals, all of whom have thriving careers. As for the staging, it was by far the best we've seen— truly. (And we look at more developments than we'd care to admit!) The 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom corner unit featured in the photo gallery is laid out exceptionally well; by taking advantage of its position in the building and utilizing many windows, the unit feels much larger than its 990 square feet. We'll be eager to see the Stable homes, still under construction, as well as the upstairs penthouse which will undoubtedly spectacular. Final call: Bravo.
· Curbed Inside Update: The Hayes [Curbed SF]
· Curbed Inside: The Hayes [Curbed SF]
· CurbedWire: Hayes Art Collection Revealed [Curbed SF]
· CurbedWire: The Hayes Will Host Resto [Curbed SF]
· Storm Watch: Hayes Unwrapped [Curbed SF]
Just checking in with 766 Harrison Street, SoMa's future high-end SRO. To recap: 98 incredibly tiny "studio" units, pricing not revealed yet, some of you love the idea and some of you hate it. The curtain hasn't risen yet, but some scaffolding has been removed and we can get an idea of what the finished facades will look like. After the jump: an early rendering / reality comparison.
· Rentals en Route to SoMa. No, Really. [Curbed SF]
Concrete walls are beginning to rise up from the sea of rebar covering Mission Walk at 330— 335 Berry Street, a soon-to-be dev of 131 so-called affordable housing units (and a whole cache of new buddies for the commuting dot-comers and scientists in the nabe. Down with homogeneity, people.). The buildings are designed by San Francisco architects Leddy Maytum Stacy; Just yards away from Mission Creek, each is centered around a landscaped central courtyard. Creek side units will feature sweeping views of all Mission Bay construction projects, natch. To the gallery!
The "race to glass" isn't much of a race anymore now, is it? This game is over. Winner: 555 Mission Street; the SoMa skyscraper has taken commanding lead over nearest competitor the Millennium. (Though we'll hold off anymore celebratory remarks until its official, just in case.) Hey Mills, consolation prize: at least you had the best top-off party.
· Race to Glass: 555 Mission Street vs. The Millennium [Curbed SF]
· First Glimpse: Millennium Top Off Party [Curbed SF]
We last checked in on this South Park micro-development last January, and things seem to be trudging forward on the commercial/residential mixed-use buildings. Without the scaffolding and protective films, these contemporary structures are looking a little cold in context with the rest of the area, though we'll hold any further judgment until the big reveal. While we're waiting on the unveiling of what will surely be the star of this building cluster, Ogrydziak/Prillinger Architects's Gallery House (the one covered in black mesh), let's indulge a favorite Curbed hobby — trying to make sense of archi-babble. Courtesy of the OPA website:
The gallery addresses the street through a condensation wall, a vitrine that distends and articulates the physicality of the liminal condition. Above, taxonomy studies exhausted potential code interpretations for a protective shroud that optimizes privacy and transparency on the domestic floors. A scaffold-like structure supports a semi-transparent screen and projects away from the primary glass curtain wall as an parametric illustration of the Planning Code constraints that trigger the typical San Francisco bay window.
So... A glass wall behind some fancy blinds, whose form has been dictated by building codes. Architects, we kid because we love.
· Development Watch: Small Spot on South Park [Curbed SF]
According to a trusty informant, notices have gone out to Rincon Hill residents regarding a "proposed 3 Lot merger, and 70 units new construction on Fremont St between Harrison and Folsom." Is the beleaguered Californian rising again? Recall The Californian on Rincon Hill: proposed for 375 Fremont Street, the building was to be a 40-story, 435 unit condo conglomerate designed by Cal architecture professor Richard Keating. Glass, views, the usual. Delay after delay led to, well, nothing— the hand basket landed in hell back in October. Happy Easter, condo lovers.
· CondoWire: Esprit, The Calfornian on Rincon Hill, City Walk [Curbed SF]
Greener Than Thou is our report on San Francisco’s obsession with all things green, giving credit where credit is due and calling bullshit when the need arises. Feeling morally superior on the green front? Testify!
In the very near future, San Francisco's building codes might become much, much greener. Ultra-green building standards proposed by the mayor's Green Building Task Force were unanimously approved by the SF Building Inspection Commission and, pending approval by the Board of Supervisors, will be signed into law later this year. As predicted last month, Mayor Gavin Newsom and his arch-nemesis Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin are actually going to play nice on this one — the Peskin-proposed alternative plan will be integrated into the mayor's proposal. The rules will be implemented almost immediately, although requirements will be phased into the current building code over the next 4 years, giving the industry time to adjust to the new costs. So what's going to change? Glad you asked: New residential buildings climbing over 75 feet high, new commercial buildings larger than 5,000 square feet, and building renovations over 25,000 square feet will be required to meet LEED standards, while all new residential construction must include solar-heated water and low-V.O.C. paints. Question: will the hundreds of new pages' worth of new codes be printed on recycled paper?
· S.F. moves to greenest building codes in U.S. [SF Gate]
· Greener Than Thou: City Dukes it Out Over LEED Law [Curbed SF]
The construction industry has hit a dry spell of epic proportions: In February, Bulldozers plowed out new foundations at a rate of 1.065 million annually, down 0.6 percent from January, while permits also sank 7.8 percent. (Math without the numbers: less permits issued = less future construction.) Combine these stats with rising producer prices, which shot up a higher-than-expected 0.5 percent, and there you have it: a housing recession expected to last nine more quarters. Needless to say then, confidence among builders is said to be at a record low.
· U.S. Economy: Housing Starts, Permits Decline as Slump Deepens [Bloomberg]
Glorious destruction continues at the corner of Howard and Hawthorne Streets, the future location of One Hawthorne, SoMa's newest 24-story condo project. Some old painted-brick warehouse signage has been revealed, and we absolutely love it. It'd be amazing if the architect or developer decide to actually integrate this gem into the design of the place. Be sure to check out the close up.
Although most of us will still have to wait until June to see the inside, major construction is now complete on the Daniel Libeskind-designed Contemporary Jewish Museum, according to SF Biz Journal. The completion of the museum is also a significant step in the Yerba Buena area redevelopment. We've already seen new shops open up on nearby Yerba Buena Lane (we're looking at you, Beard Papa!) and the area is expected to attract more new visitors as restaurants open nearby and Jessie Plaza, the cafe-filled implied extension of Yerba Buena Gardens, becomes accessible to the public. By itself, the new CJM estimates that they'll welcome up to 175,000 visitors during its first year. Sounds great, but we're still holding out for some of those starchitect condos.
· Jewish Museum arrives [SF Biz Journal]
· Curbed Inside: Contemporary Jewish Museum
Parents of Mission Terrace have a new place to dump their kids off cause for celebration as their nabe will soon see a new playground. The so-called state-of-the-art playground will be built by volunteers from the American Association of Orthopedic Surgeons (huh?) ... in one day. (Hustle!) "When we first started advocating for a new park, I didn't think it would be done by the time my kids were still kids," says a local resident, who seems all too familiar with the typical planning and construction process in San Francisco. The Mission Terrace Park will be built tomorrow, and after some finishing touches, should be open for biz by next week.
· Rome wasn’t built in a day — but playground will be [SF Examiner]
Standings next to the landmark of SoMa modernity, the Yerba Beuna Lofts, the 69 boutique condos of 829 Folsom Street have a lot to live up to. It looks like glass has recently arrived to the site and contractors are prepping the slabs — at least in the rear of the building. The DGA-designed building will be debut its model units this spring, so we'll have to wait until then to see how it measures up to Saitowitz's SoMa Sanctum Sanctorum.
A queue of construction cones awaits the opening of the new entry plaza at 333 Market Street, a FiDi/SoMa office building (geographiles, have at it!). Although it's an understated update, the plaza is a drastic improvement to the concrete & flower pot eyesore that previously occupied the site. It looks like most of the heavy lifting is done, so the captains of industry will soon have a new place to eat lunch, smoke cigarettes, and kvetch about the boss.
The Self-Anchored Suspension Span (called SAS, but we prefer Sassy), with its single cable anchor, will become not only the signature feature of the new Bay Bridge, but also the first of its kind in the world. This week should see the completion of Sassy's foundations, and from there on out, "it's all aerial acrobats," according to Caltrans spokesman Bart Ney. And get this: the foundation work will actually come in under budget — by $33.5 million. Maybe we should just let KFM engineers handle the state budget for a while. Although construction is ahead of schedule, and work will soon start on Sassy's 525 foot tower, it will still take another five years to complete the East Bay Span. So you've still got plenty of time to plan that sight-seeing picnic on Yerba Buena Island.
· Bay Bridge’s new east span gets off the ground [Daily Commercial News]
· New Lanes Now: SF Bikers Protest, Receive Good, Bad News [Curbed SF]
Cheaters! City College officials were caught greasing the palms of Political Action Committees with funds diverted from their lease payments. Of course, they had the best interests of their students at heart — the PAC in question supported a 2005 bond measure to supply the university with $246.3 million for construction projects (see above selection of new CCSF projects). The money has since been returned to the university and there's no word yet on legal action against the felonious faculty. Did the college officials know what they were doing was wrong? We like to think that convo went something like this scene from Animal House:
Dean Wormer: "Carmine, I don't think it's right that you should extort money from the college."
Mayor Carmine: "Look, these buildings you want parades you throw are very expensive... So, if you mention extortion again, I'll have your legs broken."
Unless you're watching Grey's Anatomy, surgery is never pretty. As proof, we submit closeups of 717's nip and tuck. 717, we know your in pain, but just think about how you'll look when the swelling goes down — as plain and boring as everyone else. You'll fit right in.
This morning we spotted some workers installing the eponymous curtain wall at BLŪ — San Francisco's favorite cobalt condos. Over the holidays, we saw the race to glass escalate between 555 Mission and The Millennium, but with it's relatively tiny glazed area, BLŪ's more than a contender in this sprint. Only 13 more floors to go!
· Race to Glass: 555 Mission Street vs. The Millennium [Curbed SF]
· BLŪ Makes Comeback, Joins Top Off Club [Curbed SF]
As if proof were required to support our admission of ignorance in the wide world of commercial construction, we were expecting to see more progress at 1 Kearny Street in the month or so since we last checked in. Refresher: 10 stories of office and ground-floor retail are predicted by the contractor; the new building will also prop up the adjacent building, a 1906 landmark. Suppose they should take their time stabilizing the sides of both projects, which is the only sign of progress we've seen thus far.
· Construction Watch: 1 Kearny Street [Curbed SF]
[On the left, early December construction. Right, progress thus far.]
Ah, Rumblings & Bumblings— here to help when construction confuses you. If you've got an answer to one of the reader queries below, leave a note in the comments. If you have a question of your very own, drop a line. Bonus points for digital photos.
So many questions over the past week . . . keep 'em coming, folks.
1) "The site is in on Alemeda between Potrero and Bryant. It has been demolished to the concrete slab. Anyone know what is being built there? A Wonder Bread factory used to occupy the address."
2) "A small sign of progress, for sure, but on what project? Scaffolding very recently went up at 217 Second Street, in SoMa. It's a gorgeous building; would love to hear the scoop."
Ah, Rumblings & Bumblings— here to help when construction confuses you. If you've got an answer to one of the reader queries below, leave a note in the comments. If you've got another question, drop a line. Bonus points for digital photos.
A few days back, a reader inquired about this home on Albion Street: "I usually stumble down Albion Street following a night of hAArd partying on 16th, and I'm always wondering what's going on with this house." A few of you wrote in, not with the answers per se, but with a few more questions that just might lead us there. :
"Isn't that Tom Waddells old house? (Tom Waddell was an olympic decathalete and the founder of the gay games. He died of AIDS in the mid-80's.)"
— and—
"If I remember correctly the current owner is an architect. I remember something being said about mixed use?"
Back in September, the Curbed network conducted a poll: "Which city has the best blue development?" we asked. San Francisco's BLŪlost by a landslide to New York's BLUE, with LA BLŪ standing in as the middle child. Our little-BLŪ-that-could is rallying: The beleaguered building has topped off its 21 story building; June 2008 is the projected date for move-in, and sales begin in early January (closer than it seems). Floors 2 through 19 will house as series of 2-bedroom units ranging in size from 950-1200 square feet; 6 penthouses occupy the 20th and 21st floor (at 2000-2700 square feet each). Interior renderings here.
· BLU: 631 FOLSOM IS TOPPED OFF | SOMA NEW DEVELOPMENTS [SF New Developments]
· BLŪ [website]
· CurbedWire: Inside BLŪ, the Mall [Curbed SF]
· Blu Lost, Our Inner Children Remain Stable [Curbed SF]
· Curbed Poll: Battle of the Blues [Curbed SF]
FiDi regulars may have noticed the recent carnage at 1 Kearny Street, former site of a pile of offices and one sad little travel agency? Official word— from the contractor, not our wild imaginations— is that a 10-story building is to take its place; offices and ground-level retail space is the going theory, though Mr. Contractor Man couldn't confirm specifics. (Anyone?) In a more noble show of public service, the new construction will do double-duty as a support for the adjacent building, a 1906 fire survivor. How sweet.
Writes a disgruntled regular at Ritual Roasters Coffee House:
"I just snapped this pic outside of Ritual, where the buzz of the jackhammer has absolutely destroyed my concentration this morning. Don't they know that people are trying to read and work here? This is the best free office space in the Mission! What the hell are they tearing up the street for anyway?"
We understand— it is very difficult to listen to David Bowie and catch up on celebrity gossip over such an obnoxious din. Worry not, young intellectual— we're here to help: A quick click over to the Department of Public Works website tipped us to the "Valencia Street Sewer and Repaving" project planned for January 2008. Early progress? By the city? Looks like it.
About Curbed SF
From the Golden Gate to The Mission, in San Francisco, it all comes back to our neighborhoods: where we live, where we work, where we eat, and where we play. Covering real estate sales, rental prices, and news-making deals and much more, it's all on Curbed SF. More about Curbed SF...
· Bush has left the door open (for once!) to discussion of a new mortgage crisis relief plan currently in the works in the Senate; if passed, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would backstop the mortgage insurance fund with monies culled from a new affordable housing fund. The administration is demanding stricter oversight for Fannie and Freddie, gouging risky borrowers for higher mortgage insurance rates. While the Senate is struggling to appease the While House, it's proposed FHA insurance fund isn't going over so well with G.W.B. [Reuters]
Left to wander through a post 9/11 afterlife, San Francisco Airport's long-lost "Ghost Terminal" will soon be brought back to life in an unholy ceremony involving seismic retrofits and Latin incantations. Spurred back by increased air travel and competition among the new "hip" airlines, Jetblue and SFO newcomer Virgin America, the new terminal will serve as a domestic hub with a hott redesign described as "distinctly San Francisco." This of course means it will be a "green design" (come on now— how green can an airport really be?) with expensive coffee, expensive food, and expensive retail shopping. The cost to update the original 1954 building? $383 million. Seismic retrofits will start in a few weeks, with exterior renovations soon to follow. SFO is planning for Terminal 2 to be fulling operational by the end of 2010 but has yet to release plans detailing how ghosts, specters, and poltergeists will travel once the new terminal is complete.
More evidence that SoMa is the new FiDi: The downtown leasing market is tanking, with landlords just starting to realize that they may need to lower rents to fill spaces. With financial companies delaying expansion plans due to the current economic climate, tenants are beginning to realize that they can, in fact, put the screws on their landlords. As the FiDi freezes, SoMa is heating up: FiDi usually accounts for about three quarters' worth of real estate activity during any give quarter; that number took a nose dive at the end of 2008. With new and old tech companies on the rise, economists, investors, bankers, bloggers, and web 2.0-ers are looking to SoMa to help spare San Francisco the brunt of the 
Whatever happened to Apple's second Mothership? Absolutely nothing, that's what. Two years ago this month, Steve Jobs delivered a blow to the Cupertino City Council: Apple needed an additional site for its growing workforce of hypertension-riddled Mountain Dew guzzlers, and had been considering a bailing on the town altogether. Nine spendy parcels of land later, Apple elected to stand down and hold out. “It’ll take us, you know, three or four years to design it, get all the approvals and get it built,” said Big Daddy Jobs back then, a bit ambitiously it turns out. Two years later, Apple has yet to apply for any permits whatsoever. Delays, yes— we're hedging our bets on 2012 at the earliest. As for the building, please, please, please, we beg of you Steve, don't look to your own products for design inspiration— 
Another day, another burning question arrives in the Curbed 
According to a trusty informant, notices have gone out to Rincon Hill residents regarding a "proposed 3 Lot merger, and 70 units new construction on Fremont St between Harrison and Folsom." Is the beleaguered Californian rising again? Recall The Californian on Rincon Hill: proposed for 375 Fremont Street, the building was to be a 40-story, 435 unit condo conglomerate designed by Cal architecture professor Richard Keating. Glass, views, the usual. Delay after delay led to, well, nothing— the hand basket landed in hell back in October. Happy Easter, condo lovers.
In the very near future, San Francisco's building codes might become much, much greener. Ultra-green building standards proposed by the mayor's Green Building Task Force were unanimously approved by the SF Building Inspection Commission and, pending approval by the Board of Supervisors, will be signed into law later this year. As predicted last month, Mayor Gavin Newsom and his arch-nemesis Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin are actually going to play nice on this one — the Peskin-proposed alternative plan will be integrated into the mayor's proposal. The rules will be implemented almost immediately, although requirements will be phased into the current building code over the next 4 years, giving the industry time to adjust to the new costs. So what's going to change? Glad you asked: New residential buildings climbing over 75 feet high, new commercial buildings larger than 5,000 square feet, and building renovations over 25,000 square feet will be required to meet LEED standards, while all new residential construction must include solar-heated water and low-V.O.C. paints. Question: will the hundreds of new pages' worth of new codes be printed on recycled paper?
The construction industry has hit a dry spell of epic proportions: In February, Bulldozers plowed out new foundations at a rate of 1.065 million annually, down 0.6 percent from January, while permits also sank 7.8 percent. (Math without the numbers: less permits issued = less future construction.) Combine these stats with rising producer prices, which shot up a higher-than-expected 0.5 percent, and there you have it: a housing recession expected to last nine more quarters. Needless to say then, confidence among builders is said to be at a record low. 
Although most of us will still have to wait until June to see 
Parents of Mission Terrace have a new 
Cheaters! City College officials were caught greasing the palms of Political Action Committees with funds diverted from their lease payments. Of course, they had the best interests of their students at heart — the PAC in question supported a 2005 bond measure to supply the university with $246.3 million for construction projects (see above selection of new CCSF projects). The money has since been returned to the university and there's no word yet on legal action against the felonious faculty. Did the college officials know what they were doing was wrong? We like to think that convo went something like this scene from Animal House:
A few days back, 
Writes a disgruntled regular at Ritual Roasters Coffee House:
